Midwest quake felt in Grand Rapids

A strong earthquake that rattled parts of Southern Illinois and Indiana early this morning was felt in the Grand Rapids area, about 320 miles away.

The quake, given a preliminary magnitude of 5.4, was centered about 6 miles from Mount Carmel, Ill., and about 131 miles east of St. Louis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck about 2 miles underground at 5:36 a.m., the agency said.

The USGS received reports from all over West Michigan, including Grand Rapids, Ada, Caledonia, Holland, Wayland and Trufant.

At 95, she was relieved her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. "I thought, 'My bed can't be moving,' but evidently it was."

Meteorologist Bill Marino at the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids said he too felt minor tremors but didn't give them much thought -- until phone lines lit up.

Kent County Sheriff's Lt. Jack Stewart, in charge of emergency management, said deputies were alerted but there were no reports of local damage.

The quake occurred in the Illinois basin-Ozark dome region that covers parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas and stretches from Indianapolis and St. Louis to Memphis, according to the USGS.

The organization's Web site said earthquakes occur irregularly in the area, and that the largest historical earthquake in the region -- also a magnitude 5.4 -- caused damage in southern Illinois in 1968.

Today's tremors were most severe nearer the quake's epicenter.

"It shook our house where it woke me up," said David Behm of Philo, Ill., 10 miles south of Champaign. "Windows were rattling, and you could hear it. The house was shaking inches. For people in central Illinois, this is a big deal. It's not like California."

The quake also shook skyscrapers in Chicago's Loop and tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis. It was felt in Milwaukee and Cincinnati as well.

Irvetta McMurtry of Cincinnati said she felt the rattling for up to 20 seconds.

"All of a sudden, I was awakened by this rumbling shaking," said McMurtry, 43. "My bed is an older wood frame bed, so the bed started to creak and shake, and it was almost like somebody was taking my mattress and moving it back and forth."

Lucas Griswold, a dispatcher in West Salem, said the Edwards County sheriff's department received reports of minor damage and no injuries.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Ringle in Evansville, about 38 miles from the epicenter, said there were no immediate reports of damage.

Three of the most powerful quakes felt in North America struck in the Illinois Basin region.

In 1811-12, a series of quakes along the New Madrid Fault in Missouri, near the border with Tennessee, measured 7.8, 8.0 and 8.1, which is 10 times more intense than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They devastated the sparsely populated area, and reportedly caused the Mississippi River to flow backward for a time.

The quakes, occurring from Dec. 16 to Feb. 7, were felt as far away as Boston. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, S.C., and Washington, D.C.